Placements and internships

Every year more than 150 LUMS undergraduates take a period of paid managerial employment as part of their degree – usually for the third year of a four-year degree.

For some of our degrees the placement is an integral part of the degree – but on most of our other degrees you can also take an optional placement year.

Why take a placement year?

We recognise that it doesn’t suit everyone – that many students prefer to finish their studies in three years. But if you’re able to take that extra year, you’re likely to find it very beneficial. The experience will give your employment prospects a huge boost – you will not find it hard to secure interviews for graduate jobs.

The placement also helps you decide on your career direction and the kind of organisation in which you want to work. Because of the School's close relationships with employers there are always plenty of excellent placements available, in all sectors of employment – such as banking and finance, retail, service, manufacturing, government – and covering all kinds of roles, including marketing, sales, human resources, finance, events management, logistics, consultancy and many others.

Through our placements office we ensure that you find a placement that really suits you, and where you will flourish and develop professionally at a fast rate. Many students tell us that they have done things on their placement that they never dreamt they would be capable of.

Whatever your role and whoever your employer, you will be doing a real, responsible job – with all the satisfaction that brings. You’ll be paid a good salary and will be expected to earn it! But you’ll also remain a LUMS student and thus still eligible for a student loan and other benefits. You will also have a LUMS supervisor who will visit you on placement to ensure that everything is going well and that you are gaining as much as possible from the experience.

Your placement experience will be really useful when you come back for your final year – and you’ll delve into that experience specifically for your dissertation. You will be able to appreciate far better the connections between theory and practice, and it’s almost certain that your final-year studies will be stronger as a result.